


Across All Borders

by caswell



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Squip, Fluff, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, christine is the ultimate matchmaker lesbian. we love her, promise rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 13:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17245436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caswell/pseuds/caswell
Summary: Long-distance relationships can be hard, especially when your boyfriend lives in Greece of all places. Still, Jeremy finds that it's worth the distance.





	Across All Borders

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, writing in past tense killed me. Never fucking again.  
> Hopefully the tense change makes sense, but if not, I'll change it up. Won't be too hard.  
> Anyway, this is based off of an RP I have with my friend Ithiel, who I've gifted this fic to. Thus, Michael's dialogue in the visiting section is all his. Love you, dude <3
> 
> Also, happy FaFiCoWriMo! The premise is that, every fic you read in January, you leave a comment on it. Support your fanwriter! And for those of you who are fan writers yourselves, thank you for everything!

Here’s what a typical day in Jeremy’s life is like:

 

  1. Wake up.
  2. Send a good afternoon text to Michael, who’s just gotten out of school.
  3. Shower, stand in front of the mirror, approach a self-loathing spiral at the sight of his acne and insignificant frame, remember the last time Michael complimented him on a selfie, move on.
  4. Go to school, text Michael during class, say goodnight to him during sixth period when he has to go to sleep- except on Fridays, of course, when he stays up until about 8:00 in Jeremy’s time zone.
  5. Get home, do homework, have dinner, etc. etc.



None of this is to say, though, that Jeremy’s life revolves around Michael. He does have interests! He likes to sing, he’s a pretty decent writer, and recently, he’s even joined the school play with his best IRL friend, Christine. It’s just that, they’ve been together for a year now- since December of Jeremy’s junior year- and they’ve fallen into their own synced-up schedule, even with a seven-hour time difference.

When you’re as clumsy, awkward, and generally undesirable as Jeremy is, it’s hard to get a date in person, so he’s mostly resorted to online relationships. Of course, he’s only had three in his life before, two of them spanning only about four months on average, but it’s by far more luck than he’s had in the meatspace. Long-distance relationships are easier, anyway, he’s found; he doesn’t have to worry about, say, tripping and falling in front of them, or stumbling over his words (except on Skype calls).

And Michael is, like, _super_ long-distance. Greece, actually. It makes things hard, sometimes; the aching for physical touch can get to be too much, and Jeremy longs to hug him and to kiss his face and whatever, but, on the plus side, he’s got a _really_ cute accent.

 

Jeremy and Michael met in freshman year at fourteen and fifteen years old, respectively. It was the age of Tumblr networks, where everyone joined a Skype group and there was a page on someone’s blog with all the members. It was a simpler time.

This one was for people trying to learn second languages; Jeremy had a short stint of attempting to learn Chinese to impress his then-crush Christine, who turned out to be a lesbian. Michael, of course, was learning English, and was better at his second language than almost anyone there, which drew Jeremy to him immediately. Jeremy only knew how to say a couple things in Chinese, the most important being _duì bu qǐ_ \- ‘I’m sorry’.

Miraculously, Jeremy managed to make multiple friends in the group chat, namely Kaitlyn (who was learning Norwegian) and Ithiel (who was learning Hebrew, hell yeah!)- but Michael was the most important of all of them. He didn’t mean for it to be, but it was pretty blatant.

_Incoming friend request from Mιχαήλ/Michael!_

The alert popped up on his phone screen during third period one April afternoon, and Jeremy quickly muted his phone before looking around to see if anyone noticed. He wasn’t used to getting notifications of any sort, especially things like friend requests, so it was almost a shock to him. Still, he navigated to Skype while the teacher wasn’t looking and accepted the friend request.

A message from Michael came through a couple minutes later. _Hello!_

Jeremy smiled, as he always did when Michael talked to him. Something about him was so captivating, but not in a gay way or anything, because Jeremy certainly _was not_ gay. _hi!!_ he typed back. Was using two exclamation points too much? After all, Michael had only used one. Maybe he was coming off as too excited, even ditzy. That would be awful- if Michael didn’t have a good opinion of him, he would probably drop dead there and then.

Luckily, Michael didn’t seem to think anything of it. After a small pause, another message popped up on Jeremy’s screen. _How are you? What’s going on?_

Jeremy blinked- nothing was going on, everything was fine- before he realized that it was probably just Michael’s way of asking what’s up. _nm, just in class. doing alright. you?_ After a moment’s thought, he erased the _nm_ and replaces it with _not much,_ then sends it.

_I’m glad your alright! You seem sort of sad lately._

Jeremy was, of course, willing to forgive the your/you’re transgression, since the message was so genuine. Nobody actually gave a shit about his feelings usually, or, if they did, they didn’t show it. His dad was too depressed to be there for him, and, beyond liking his posts on Tumblr, his friends and mutuals didn’t seem to care, either. He was about to type out a reply, something thanking him for caring, but a sharp _“Mr. Heere!”_ from his teacher let him know that he should probably put his phone away.

 

Of all the things Jeremy had ever lied to himself about- being fine with going to a school he was mercilessly bullied at, for example- being straight was the biggest one. It took him fifteen years and an unfortunate amount of gay porn to figure it out, but there he was, sitting at his computer desk one day, when he had an epiphany. “Holy shit,” he murmured, _“I’m totally bi.”_

What’s a person supposed to do when they find out they’re bi? He couldn’t just keep it inside. He needed to tell someone, to get some modicum of validation, but then he would actually have to come out, which was terrifying. Caught between the two options, Jeremy laid his head on his crossed arms and sighed. Story of his life: being happy for .2 seconds and then completely ruining it by overthinking.

And then a message from Michael came through.

_Hey dude! What’s up?_

Jeremy smiled, tension alleviated momentarily by the words of his friend, though they weren’t anything special. _Not much,_ he typed reflexively, then backspaced until the text box was clear. Something _was_ going on for once. Should he tell Michael? Obviously, it would be safe; Michael himself was gay, which Jeremy had learned the very first day he met him. Plus, he knew Jeremy was struggling with his sexuality; he was the first and only person he’d told that he wasn’t sure he was straight. So, Jeremy bit the bullet and did the damn thing.

_i dunno. a lot? i figured out I’m bi, so that’s cool._

_OMG, that’s great! Welcome to the boy-loving club! I’ll make you a shirt._

_awww thanks man. it’d be an honor to have matching shirts with you._

And it would be! He cares about Michael more than anyone else on Earth, probably, alongside Christine, who’s also his best friend. Jeremy smiled, happy for once in his life, and stared lovingly at the-

Oh, no.

Another realization dawned on Jeremy, and he laid his head back down on his arms. “I’m in love with Michael.”

 

For the first few weeks, Jeremy hoped it was a momentary infatuation, latching on to the nearest gay dude; he didn’t really know any others his age, and he certainly wasn’t going to date anyone over seventeen, so that eradicated that possibility. But it wasn’t- it stuck around like a cold that just won’t go away; two months in, Jeremy had to accept that he was definitely crushing, and at the four month mark, he admitted to himself that he was in love.

Obviously, there was no chance of actually _telling_ Michael about his feelings. That was suicide. He couldn’t just ruin one of his two closest friendships like that. Instead, he consulted Christine about five times a day.

“I don’t see why you don’t just ask him out,” Christine said one afternoon, sprawled out on Jeremy’s bed as she watched him play the new Fallout game, which had just come out the day before. They were taking turns playing on Jeremy’s laptop, each with their own save file.

 _“Because,”_ Jeremy said as he vigorously tapped at the keyboard, “there’s no way he’ll like me back. Chrissy, he’s like, the coolest person I know.” Silence. “Okay, he’s the coolest _guy_ I know. You’ve definitely staked your claim for coolest girl.”

“Heck yeah, I have. Look, for real, you can’t just sit around waiting for him to ask you out.” Christine straightened into a sitting position. “Of course, you don’t have to, but… I think it might even be fun.”

 _“Fun!?”_ Jeremy sputtered, and paused the game. “It’s putting my life on the line! Seriously, I don’t know what I would do if he started to hate me. He’s one of my best friends.”

Christine tapped her hands on the bedspread, quickly and with no rhythm. “Can I tell you  a secret?” she asked. “Well, it’s not really a _secret,_ just something I noticed. It’s really important.”

Jeremy swiveled around on his chair, finally facing Christine, and nodded. “Hit me with it.”

Excitedly, Christine blurted out, “Michael is totally flirting with you! Like, in our little group chat. Right in front of me, like I won’t see it!”

“What? He’s not flirting,” Jeremy said, leaning back in his chair. There was no way, right? Someone like Michael wouldn’t flirt with someone like him. He’s actually handsome, for one; plus, he’s super smart- he’s bilingual, for God’s sake. Totally impossible. Jeremy was lucky he even wanted to be friends.

“He’s _super_ flirting. Believe me, I know! Like…” Christine grabs her phone from the pocket of her jean skirt and scrolls through their three-person group chat. “‘Why are you so handsome literally all the time? It’s unfair.’ when you sent that first selfie with the blue streak in your hair.”

“That was months ago,” Jeremy said. “If he liked me then, he probably doesn’t like me anymore.”

“But _you_ liked him months ago,” Christine pointed out, “and you still like him. So what’s the holdup?”

“...You really think he likes me?” Jeremy said. “Like, you’re not just fucking around with me?”

Christine rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Of course not! Why would I do that to you? You should totally just go for it.”

Jeremy sighed and rubbed his temples. “Fine. Just so you’ll stop pestering me.”

 

It took Jeremy another month to confess to Michael, much to Christine’s dismay. She was never a fan of waiting, and she definitely showed it, but Jeremy managed to blow it off each and every day until the 10th of December.

“Okay, fine, _fine,_ I’ll do it today,” Jeremy said, groaning as he pressed the heels of his palms into his closed eyes. “You’re lucky I brought my laptop.” His backpack was leaning against Christine’s bed, so he bent down to rifle through it, surfacing again with his laptop a few moments later. “I suppose you’re going to want to look on.”

“You know me so well!” Christine chirped, and gave Jeremy a friendly kiss on the cheek, which, even now that his crush on her had dissipated, still made him blush.

Jeremy opened his laptop and navigated over to Skype, clicking on Michael’s name to pull up their chat log. Luckily, Michael was online; it was only a Thursday, but he might still be up for another half hour- just enough time to have The Conversation. Repeating his words out loud (even though Christine can see the screen), Jeremy typed, _Hey! Do you have a sec?_

“Ooh, how straight-forward.”

“Should I change it?”

“Nah, keep going.”

A message from Michael popped up after a few seconds. _I can stay up longer. What’s up?_

“Oh, shit, I shoulda made a script,” Jeremy murmured, staring at the screen. With a jolt of shame, he realized that he was sweating.

“Just tell him about it!” Christine said. “Tell him everything you feel.”

“Alright, Billy Joel.” Jeremy rolled his eyes and typed, _I’ve got something to tell you._ Hopefully, the serious wording and the proper grammar wasn’t too jarring for Michael. Oh, shit, was he doing it wrong already?

_Is everything alright?_

“It’s now or never,” Christine said, and ruffled up Jeremy’s hair.

After groaning and fixing his hair, smoothing it down once, twice, three times, Jeremy began to type the message to make or break his best friendship. “Okay, here goes nothing,” he said, nearly a mumble. _So… I know this is bad timing, but like… I think I like you a lot._

_I already knew that! You’re my best friend, of course you like me. But thank you!_

“Remember, he’s an ESL guy,” Christine pointed out. “You’re going to have to be a little more literal. A littleral.”

“Right, right,” Jeremy said, and, while half of him was tempted to leave it be and let Michael think he just liked him as a friend, he knew he couldn’t do that and live with himself the next morning. _No, dude, like… I think I’m in love with you._

There wasn’t an answer for a good five minutes, and Jeremy began to bang his head against the keyboard, leaving a spattering of letters in the text box.

Christine patted him on the back and asked, “Jeremy? Are you okay?”

“No,” Jeremy answered, voice muffled by his keyboard. “He hates me!”

And then a message came through. Jeremy raised his eyes to look at the words, barely taking them in at first, but there they were:

_Wow, really? OMG!_

_Yes really, would I lie to you about this?_

_I don’t know! But I love you back!_

“Oh my God, _Jeremy,”_ Christine said, slapping Jeremy urgently in the shoulder, “he likes you back!”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Jeremy said, awed, as he stared at the screen. The feelings hadn’t kicked in yet; he simply looked numbly on at the chat box as Michael started to type again.

_Jeremy? Are you there?_

Oh, right. A grin began to spread across Jeremy’s face as he typed, _yeah, I’m here. So you seriously like me back?_

_Of course I do! Who else would I like? You’re my best friend?_

Jeremy grunted as Christine elbows him in the upper arm. “See, I _told_ you,” she said with a smug smile. Jeremy just rolled his eyes.

_well. Um what should we do now?_

_IDK! We could go on video call dates, but we already do that now._

Jeremy pondered the situation for a second. They were already basically boyfriends; they knew each other like the back of their hands, and they’d video called many times before, along with watching movies. So, he may as well just jump in.

_Do you want to be my boyfriend?_

 

That was a year ago. Now, things have settled into normalcy; there’s no longer that nervous buzz, all that second-guessing, and, while that was certainly… exciting, in a sense, Jeremy’s much, much more satisfied with their current relationship. He can finally allow himself to relax.

“I just feel so at home with you,” he says one day as they video chat. Jeremy had originally wanted to only voice chat, since his chin was breaking out again, but Michael had assured him that he didn’t mind the acne, so he’d turned his webcam on.

“Is this about the acne thing?” Michael asks.

“No,” Jeremy answers. After a second, he adds, “Only a little. But, like… I can be myself around you, y’know? Like, I don’t have to worry about… like… I dunno, if I’m too awkward, or too horny-”

“You’re pretty horny.”

“Well, I know _that,_ but I don’t have to worry about it making you uncomfortable,” Jeremy says. “...It doesn’t make you uncomfortable, right?”

“I’m sexually attracted to you, Jeremy,” Michael says. “It doesn’t make me uncomfortable.”

“Okay, see? That’s what I mean. Like, I can just… be myself around you.” Jeremy grins, showing off his dimples, at which Michael fake-swoons.

“You’re so cute! Did you know that?” he asks, and, while a teasing look still lingers on his features, there’s genuine love and tenderness there, too.

Jeremy practically melts, and he averts his gaze in a feeble attempt to keep Michael from noticing. “I mean… I really _didn’t._ I didn’t like myself like this before I met you.”

“Didn’t Christine make you like yourself?” Michael asks. “She’s a really nice person. I’m sure she would want you to.”

“Of course she did, and she _does;_ she’s my best friend, but…” Jeremy pauses, searching for the right words to elaborate on how he feels. “She never loved me like that, so I had no proof that I _could_ be loved like that. But… you do. So now I know.”

“I am… so glad,” Michael says, and the smile he gives Jeremy is so genuine that he nearly drops dead again.

How did he get to be this lucky? Does he deserve it? Is it all going to end soon, leaving him more crushed than ever before? But that doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is here and now; Jeremy might have to repeat it to himself over and over still, but someday, it’ll stick.

 

It’s not all soft and warm and fuzzy, though. Not that they _fight,_ because they’re a year in and still going strong, but they have deep talks, some of which border on morose. It’s strange, because 1:00 in the morning for Michael is just around dinnertime for Jeremy, but he’s gotten used to having super-deep convos in the early evening.

“Do you think I’m doing the wrong thing with my life?” Michael asks, resting his chin on one bent arm. “My mothers say I’m smart enough to be doing better.”

“Is this about your grades again? Dude, I’m telling you, you’re worth more than that.”

“It’s not just that,” Michael says, and sighs. “They want me to do something better than open a record shop. They say I can… change the world, or whatever.”

“The world needs more record shops,” Jeremy says, and it’s times like these where he wishes he could reach through the computer screen and take him into his arms, hold him until he’s okay again. It’s not that Michael seems to upset or anything, but Jeremy’s well aware that he doesn’t like to be vulnerable, so when he says things like these, it means that something’s struck him to the core.

Michael just hums in acknowledgement, glancing away from the camera. “Maybe they’re right. I dunno.”

“Of course they’re not right!” Jeremy pauses, taking a moment to reassess what he’s just said. “No, I mean, you could totally change the world, but you don’t _have_ to. We could- I mean- you could just have a normal life.”

His little Freudian slip brings a light back into Michael’s eyes that he hadn’t seen all day. “‘We’, huh?” He raises his eyebrows, and there’s a smirk on his face, a loving tease. The bastard.

“I mean… I mean…” Jeremy lowers his voice so that his father won’t hear him. It’s nothing risque, just embarrassing. “I wouldn’t _mind_ having a life with you. We already sorta have one.” It’s his turn to break eye contact now; what if he’d said the wrong thing? What if he was going too fast? Sure, they’d been together for a year and known each other for three, but that doesn’t mean he can just say whatever he’s thinking about their future and not have it be scary.

“Relax, Jer,” Michael says, and the smile he gives him is gentle enough to soothe Jeremy’s nerves. “It’s sweet. We could absolutely have a life together.”

That night, Jeremy stays awake for hours, too consumed by thoughts of himself and Michael having an apartment, a cat or two, maybe even kids- kids!- to sleep.

 

The first time they kiss is the closest Jeremy’s felt to believing in God in years. It’s dreamlike, truly, and for a long while, he was certain it _was_ a dream, unwilling to allow himself the happiness of meeting his boyfriend at long last, just in time for their second anniversary. It didn’t help that it was a surprise that Michael and Mr. Heere had been keeping secret for months without telling him.

"You flew thirteen hours," Jeremy says. "That's nuts. That's fucking insane." He's not sure what to focus on- Michael's grin, the way his thumb feels on his skin, the way he can still taste Michael's vanilla chapstick? Whatever. He pulls him closer again, presses their lips together.

Michael is silent, but there’s a grin on his face at the longer, smoother kiss, a contrast from the desperate one they’d shared just a few minutes previously. Jeremy’s movements are awkward and lopsided, but Michael takes it in stride, which, Jeremy muses to himself, really sums up their relationship.

When he has the chance, after their lips have parted and they’re each lying back on the bed, Jeremy asks, “So, how long are you staying here?”

Michael stills his fingers that were playing with the hem of Jeremy’s shirt and answers, “About a month. What I was thinking is, while I was up here, I could look for apartments nearby? If I like it around here, it would only make sense for me to, and I’ve been studying for the test just in case, too!”

Jeremy rolls over and presses his face into Michael’s chest, laughing as he feels his fingers card through his hair a moment later. Barely able to accept the notion, he says, “I’m gonna go bonkers in fucking Yonkers, duder. You’re just teasing me, right? That’s too good to be true and you know it.”

“I’m serious! I’ve been studying for my visa,” Michael says, and Jeremy ignores the mispronunciation of the last word. “And I’ve been looking at apartments all around. I mean, I’m obviously not sure yet, but if it’s close to you, I’m pretty sure I’ll decide to move.”

The concept floors Jeremy, but not enough to keep him from taking, like, a jillion-hour nap with Michael, who passed out promptly after breaking the news. Jet lag is a bitch.

And then Michael puts a ring on his finger.

It’s not a wedding band, obviously; they’re only 17 and 18, so there’s not going to be a wedding anytime soon. Still, there’s the promise of one, given to Jeremy alongside a copy of Michael’s favorite book.

"Oh, my God, you didn't do this," Jeremy says, instinctively bringing a hand to muffle his words. "That's nuts, dude. You bought me a- what, so this is- like, before engagement?" He was already sort of a mess, but now it's almost overwhelming; he barely knows how to get words out. Who knows what it's gonna be like when Michael actually does this for real?  
“Um… yeah, kinda,” Michael says, shaking Jeremy from his reverie, and he realizes that he hasn’t answered yet.

"Oh, my God, dude, yeah, of course," Jeremy exclaims, cupping Michael's face in his hands. "This is the best day of my life, dude. Did you know we're in my favorite memory right now?"

Michael’s response is wordless: a kiss, long and deep, and a hand on Jeremy’s waist as he pulls him close. It’s the most tender thing Jeremy has ever known.

Jeremy kisses back with fervor, keeping his hands on Michael's face; he can't stop grinning even for a second. He's pretty sure he could die in this position and be fine with it. "I love you," he whispers when the kiss finally ends.

“I love you, too,” Michael says just as quietly, then slips the ring onto Jeremy’s bony finger with an unwavering smile. “We’re gonna get married one day.”

"We sure are," Jeremy says, the realization finally setting in. He's made the biggest decision of his lifetime so far, and it's a little scary, but who else would he marry but Michael?

Michael’s gaze falls to the ring on Jeremy’s finger, and it settles there for a moment before he grabs the matching one for himself and slips it on his own finger. “I love you, dude.”

“I love you, too, Michael.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I love you!


End file.
